Is this real or just all in the mind?
by TigreMalabarista
Summary: Haunted Houses normally are the place to go for a scary, fun time. For Aidan Hinkley this Halloween, things might just become a true horror. Rated T for haunted house scares and language.


Haunted Houses normally are the place to go for a scary, fun time. For Aidan this Halloween, things might just become a true horror. Set a short time after csunwriter's first "Blackout" story, and contains a character from said story, used with permission from csunwriter. Aidan Hinkley is mine while any other "Greatest American Hero" characters belong to Stephen J. Cannell.

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It was an unusually chilly Halloween night in Los Angeles. Aidan Hinkley was waiting in line with her boyfriend Rodney as they waited their turn to enter Mall Madhouse, one of the premier haunted houses in the city. Created in an old mall, the haunted house featured two stories full of twists, turns and scares.

Aidan sighed as she checked her watch again and shivered, wishing she had morphed the suit to create slightly thicker jacket with red trim over it to hide the emblem of the normal pants and shirt style it liked. Still, it was preferable to the alternative of not wearing the suit. After her encounter with a youth who wore a black version of her suit and wanted to kill her, not to mention dealing with a strange organization who knew of her and Ralph's time in the suit, she wasn't going to leave it at home.

Looking at Rodney again, she leaned back into his shoulder, glad she had it however, ready to remorph it to protect him - and others, from being harmed or killed by anyone. She hoped she never had to use it in front of him, as Rodney knew nothing about the suit, but she felt better knowing it was on standby.

Feeling the young woman snuggle against his arm, Rodney smiled. "Ah, at least the cold weather is good for something," he said, chuckling and he wrapped his arms around her. "But we should get to enter in soon."

The young woman nodded, "Yeah, but I think you'll get used to this throughout the haunted house," she said. "Been a long time since I've been in one. Haven't been in one since..."

"... Since your wreck, because if I recall correctly you said it gave you nightmares," he finished for her, and Aidan nodded. They had tried go to a haunted house the following October after her near fatal wreck.

Unfortunately for Aidan, the theme that year had been an insane asylum.

After one too many scenes brought flashbacks to the sanitarium in the alternate reality the greenguys put her in, Aidan fled from the house in tears. Rodney was not upset, having heard her godparents Ralph and Pam say it was from nightmares - caused by her concussion, they claimed - and they spent the rest of the evening going to friendlier venues.

Seeing Aidan lost in thought, Rodney gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry Cavalier, this Panther will be there to protect you," he said, chuckling. Aidan also laughed at the nickname, remembering the time he saved her life during a mascot kidnapping prank that turned real her senior year. He didn't know however, that Ralph had also helped save the day using the suit to stop the bullet fired at him.

Soon, it was their turn to enter the mall. After paying the entry fee, they all entered inside to the "information desk." There, a "floating head" guide went over the rules and safety precautions.

As they walked the hallway and faced the door to enter however, Aidan froze in place as she felt a cold shudder in her arms and a slight buzzing in her head. "That's odd, I can't be getting a holograph - the powers don't work unless the suit's in its normal form," she thought, moving her arms up and down to get rid of the sensation that wouldn't seem to subside.

Rodney, however seeing the motion and her pausing at the doors, held her closer. "Ade, we don't have to go in there if you don't want to," he said gently. "We can still get a refund if we don't enter through the doors." He had explained to the owners Aidan's past, and having read the story themselves about her wreck and amazing comeback - unbeknownst to them courtesy of the greenguys - they were going to offer him a refund if she couldn't make it through the first door.

Aidan shook her head, dismissing the feeling. "Nah, I'll be OK as long as you are near me," she said, and they entered. Inside, they entered the first room. It was a simple toy store by appearance, but as they walked through a couple of the "toys" came to life, scaring the visitors. Aidan gave a yelp and huddled near Rodney. The young man chuckled and they continued on the route.

As they entered various rooms, they had several interesting scares, including a psycho trainer in the exercise store, various scary mall walkers in the hallways, and butchers in the food court who used "victims" to get the meat for the sandwiches.

Turning the corner after the food court scare, a shadowy figure appeared and started talking in a sinister tone. Aidan sighed at this scare, having seen it three times from other walkers already and walked past.

"I wouldn't be so dismissive of me Aidan," said the voice. "Not if you want you and your family to live."

Aidan's heart turned to ice and she made a move to protect Rodney... only to find he wasn't there. Turning back, she saw the figure pull down his mask.

It was the boy who wore the black suit.

She growled. "What the hell are you doing here," she said, reaching for the belt buckle of her suit. "Where's Rodney?"

The teen shrugged his shoulders. "Making your life a living hell before I kill you," he said. "As for boy toy, I teleported him to a place where he's ... relatively safe... for now."

Aidan glared "Relatively safe?" she said angrily, quickly saying the word "suit" so it would morph into the proper outfit.

The teen rolled his eyes, wanting to test what was more important for her. "Really, you're going to fight me after the pummeling you got last time? Surprised you survived it... but oh well, more fun for me. Now... I don't know about that Rodney fellow, but those spider hybrids might wake up and turn him into a meal if he's not quiet, and..." he paused, hearing a yell. "Oh... too late."

Aidan's eyes widened in horror and she ran, trying to figure out where the spiders were. She turned a corner and heard Rodney's voice screaming again. Making a quick dash to the room, she did indeed see the spiders and shrieked. They were half human, half spider and were quickly wrapping up her boyfriend in spider webbing. The man was in pain as the cocoon started to constrict his breathing. She could tell he saw her before he went limp as one of the spiders bit him and completely encased his head.

Aidan, realizing that time was of the essence ran toward the man. The spiders, distracted from their work, started charging toward her, fangs bared. The young woman, repulsed by their appearance and their harming Rodney, quickly shoved them out of the way. The spiders hit the wall and while alive, were dazed enough they were effectively out of commission.

After approaching the cocoon that Rodney was in, Aidan tore it open to rescue him.

She found instead he was gone save pieces of fabric from his clothes.

"Oops - there isn't anyone there... but acid from the spider's spit would disintegrate steel," said a voice in her head. Looking around, seeing no one nearby, she winced when it again talked. "Oh, I thought you'd remember that telepathy was possible in the suit."

Aidan growled, remembering the last time she dealt with telepathy. "I know bozo, dealt with it when Jazar messed with me. Care to join her fate toddler?" she said.

The voice scoffed. "Toddler? You obviously know nothing about the suit or its powers," he scoffed. "You think your precious Rodney was safe? No, he wasn't, any more than your family or that partner of yours."

Aidan paled realizing the full intent of the teen's words and started to sprint through the hallways of the mall. "Yes, run Aidan, run and see the fate of your family," the voice said, then cackled with laughter. "I have the power to destroy your love, strength and life..."

The young woman ran upstairs into a hallway of shattered mirrors illuminated with strobes, mirrors and smoke. As she walked a ramp, she felt vibrations from something banging on it. Looking down, she noticed her godmother Pam trapped in underneath her shouting and pleading to be freed. Instead, she got an electric shock, making her cry out in pain.

"Pam, hold on..." Aidan said, kneeling down and trying to find the edge of the ramp to pull it away. There were no seams anywhere to rip open the cover.

Pam kept banging on the ramp trying to push out the grill, only to again be electrocuted. Aidan motioned for Pam to cover her face as she tried to break the ramp from top down, to no avail and watched helplessly as Pam painfully died underneath her.

Turning away from the sight, she then heard another - and male - shout. "Tony," Aidan said as she ran down a hallway where the food court was and saw her teammate and partner be chopped up by the chef - a real maniacal chef. The man's screams died alone with him as the chef tore out Tony's heart and intestines, throwing them into a fryer.

The chef looked at her and smiled "Pasta and meatballs dearie?" he said with a sick grin. He then nodded toward a spot right behind Aidan. "Or would you prefer Grade A Number One Gold Star prime rib?"

The young woman turned - and saw her dear friend and "adopted great-uncle" Bill hanging from the wall with parts of him carved out as well.

Aidan turned away from the sight, crying and nearly vomiting only to hear again a shout. "Ralph... No," she cried out. Aidan ran into the "returns department" part of the mall and glanced around the walls of spandex, machinery and other material surrounding it.

"RALPH? Where are you?" Aidan yelled as she touched portions of the wall, hoping for a holograph. Feeling vibrations in a wall - she put both hands on it and received a holograph. Seeing Ralph struggling, then seeing a body stuck in a wall, she tore it the Spandex apart. To her dismay Aidan found it was a mannequin placed there for effect.

She tossed the figure to the side, only to notice movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned in time to see a figure throw itself in the wall, as though trying tear through the wall. The young woman gasped in fright as she jumped back ready to fight when she heard a voice "Aidan!" said Ralph, who then screamed in agony as a loud explosion went off making the material billow out again.

"Hold on Godpop, I'm coming" she said as she tore through the wall. Instead of Ralph however, a severely burned, severed and car part riddled corpse flew through the wall, along with other debris from a second and minor explosion, knocking both her and it to the floor.

Aidan moved the remains to the side and kneeled, then shrieked when she saw it also had Ralph's grey curling hair and unseeing blue eyes. "No!" Aidan screamed again turning her face from the sight. "They're dead... they can't be all dead..." she said, bending over into a ball and sobbing. The suit, for all its powers and speed, couldn't save her family and friends when it mattered the most.

The etherial voice chuckled sinisterly. "No, you were right the first time Aidan... they're dead" said Tyler as he appeared from nowhere to stand beside her. "You can't save them Aidan - not with your pathetic red suit, not from me. I'm more powerful and will be a great leader for this world," he said with a smirk. Not seeing Aidan look at him, he kicked her, forcing her to look up. "Why don't you just give up Aidan? You can't win."

Aidan's sobs faded and were replaced with a fury in her eye that would've set the mall - and probably about four streets - on fire if she wasn't careful. "You sick bastard," she said standing up. "You will not get away with this. I will keep you from hurting people, even if it kills me."

"Don't make me laugh. Your boyfriend really is dead. You couldn't even save your family Aidan. What makes you think you can save 6 billion people?" he mocked. Aidan charged, only to find him step to the side and let her keep running.

Aidan saw the railing separating the second floor from the first a second after it was too late to stop. She flipped over the railing and fell for what seemed like hours as the teen continued to taunt her.

"You can't win Aidan - never could, never will. Bye, bye, time to die," he said just before Aidan felt a sickening crunch of something breaking. Unable to move, she looked up and saw the teen in black come toward her with a rag of something in hand, shoving it in her face. She smelled a strong chemical smell as everything went black...

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"Patient is regaining consciousness," said a young female voice that drifted through Aidan's mind along with other distorted and jumbled voices of worry.

Aidan opened her eyes, wincing at the brightness of the lights as they swirled in front of her. She smelled a sharp odor again and thinking it was the teen in black poisoning her, hit the hand, knocking it askew. Realizing her mistake at hitting a person with the suit, she turned to look at her arm - only to find to her confusion that it was not covered in the red of the suit but the red trimmed jacket she created when it morphed.

Seeing the hand return toward her, Aidan shrieked and covered her face, not knowing what physical or mental torture the black suited teen would do now that she was awake.

Nonetheless, she still heard the voice return, gently trying to move the young woman's arms. "Miss Hinkley, you need to calm down," the voice said firmly but not unkindly. "I have to take your blood pressure again."

Aidan shook her head, still confused as her eyesight improved. She saw the paramedic and a group of people surrounding her in the middle of the haunted mall. There was no sign of the teen who wore the black suit. The mall was fully lit as it was when there was trouble... which would explain the teen running away before he succeeded in trying to kill her... or someone had a medical issue.

Realizing the second thought, the young woman groaned. "What happened?" she said, wincing slightly at the bump she now felt on the back of her head.

"You had a syncope and hit your head. The workers called emergency. You've been out for about 5 minutes," the paramedic said.

Aidan flinched, trying to find an excuse as to why she fainted. She was however thankful the suit had not only protected and healed her from the fall and the teen in black's attempt to kill her, but had apparently done its morphing to hide its identity if she was unconscious. "I'm so sorry - I didn't realize that the scares of the haunted house would cause me to pass out," she said.

The paramedic looked at her confused. "Scares? Miss Hinkley, you fainted before you even entered the main attraction," she said, pointing to the main door. "Your friend, Mr. Jameston, reported that you froze when you saw the door. When he tried to get you to move, your eyes rolled back and you collapsed, hitting your head on hallway wall."

"I didn't even enter the...?" she said confused. Thinking about the full comment the paramedic said however, Aidan did a double take and sat up in spite of the paramedics protests. "Wait... Rodney? He's alive?" she said in disbelief. Seeing movement on her right, she turned her head and saw that it was indeed her boyfriend, alive and well.

"Yeah Cavalier, of course I'm - " he said, only to be cut off when Aidan wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tightly and crying in relief. She was glad that the suit was morphed, because she didn't want to crush him, let alone let go for a long time.

Hearing her cry, Rodney returned the hug, kissing her head. "Ade, what's wrong sweets?" he said. "You scared the living hell out of me when you fell into a dead faint, but it's YOU who look like you're seeing a ghost."

Aidan shook her head. "It's nothing - a nightmare I had while I was out... just a nightmare," she said, not wanting to go into details as it would reveal the suit not just to him, but everyone. "I thought one of those half human/half spiders dissolved you with their spit."

Rodney cocked an eyebrow at the weird fate she dreamt, but didn't press further. He held her tighter. "It's OK Aidan. Don't worry - I'm here," he said, gently brushing the paramedic away for a moment. "Listen, I called Ralph and Pam while the medics were taking care of you. They're on their way and we're all going home to their place after you get checked out."

Aidan shuddered, remembering the nightmare, but knew that if Rodney was saying her godparents were on the way, they were OK. "Will they let you stay too?" she asked innocently. Her longtime friend chuckled, saying that he had already asked himself, and her adopted parents agreed - only as long as he slept on the couch.

The paramedics gently pushed the couple to let them finish the exam, and though Aidan would have to be checked out by the doctor, allowed her to sign a refusal of treatment so she could go with her family. They realized whatever Aidan had dreamed while in her faint was disturbing enough she wasn't going to leave with the medics. Ralph and Pam arrived shortly and after giving her a hug, took her along with Rodney back home.

As the family drove off, the owner of the mall turned to his staff. "Folks, everything is all right now. Let's do a thorough checkup of the mall to ensure everything is safe and we'll start up again," he said. They nodded and headed to their part of the mall to get ready.

While the workers left, one of the mall walkers in black stood back and smirked. "It's too easy," said Tyler as he grinned at the memory of doing a mind push on Aidan.

He sadly knew that even morphed the red suit would protect Aidan from mind control itself, his black suit had some ability to do a mind push on a wearer in that form. Given Aidan's jumpy nature after their first meeting, it only made it easier.

Seeing her collapse from the terror he gave her and sheer horror on her boyfriend's face was an added bonus. While Tyler felt that it would be a one-time opportunity - as now Aidan wouldn't take the chance of a morphed suit in case he returned, he still enjoyed terrorizing her.

"One day Aidan, that nightmare will be real, and I will enjoy every second of it until you really are dead," he said to himself and chuckling, went back to the haunted mall so he could continue to scare people.


End file.
